Learn me about the Helix

Clarky

I'm considering a compact, light weight alternative to the Axe-FX II

so… I'm up for a little research...

John_A

As a lightweight alternative for someone who's used an Axe fx for as long as you have with great results I would have thought an AX-8 would have been the obvious choice.  Love my Helix, it sounds great and is a doddle to use ad has a few features like the scribble strips that the AX is missing, but other than that it's just a different flavour, not much it can or can't do when compared to the AX-8

guitarfishbay

Clarky uses dual amps IIRC, which rules the AX8 out.

Honestly on paper I think the Helix would suit Clarky, especially since he goes for crazy lots of programming patches.

Based on the available clips and info for the Headrush so far the Helix is the logical choice for complex routing in a footpedal setup.

sweepy

I have both and so far the axe-fx is edging it tonally, it doesn't hurt to have both

Clarky

John_A said:

As a lightweight alternative for someone who's used an Axe fx for as long as you have with great results I would have thought an AX-8 would have been the obvious choice.  Love my Helix, it sounds great and is a doddle to use ad has a few features like the scribble strips that the AX is missing, but other than that it's just a different flavour, not much it can or can't do when compared to the AX-8

as pointed out, the AX-8 only has 1 amp.. plus, it's missing a pile of control functionality that the Axe-FX has
the AX-8 it great if you want Fractal modelling, a ton of fx, but simple control functionality..

my needs are quite stringent and will ask quite a lot of any unit in the real-time control area..
in fact, I'd place my control needs over tone because most units can be made to sound pretty good these days..

Clarky

sweepy said:

I have both and so far the axe-fx is edging it tonally, it doesn't hurt to have both

I'd keep my Axe for studio work and UK gigs
for gigs overseas though, things are getting tough now that I have to flight case my guitars..
I used to take them in the cabin in gig bags.. so I only had a suitcase containing controllers, cables and a toothbrush, and my rack going in the hold..
now that the dickhead extremists are forcing airlines to tighten up on what's allowed in the cabin, I have my rack, suitcase and guitar flight case..
means the airlines want extra £££££ cos the extra items and the extra kg's
I need to find a way to strip it down..

another alternative is only to take one Axe-FX, no power conditioner and a smaller 4U rack..
cuts back on the weight a lot..
but a floor mount unit like the Helix means no rack, no floor control unit..
so my case would contain the Helix, power amp, some expression pedals and a toothbrush
which I'd imagine would all weigh less than 20kg

Cabicular

For pure control I'm not sure you can do better
almost any number of parameters can be controlled simultaneously by exp pedals
almost any parameter can be toggled between x and y states on a foot-switch
so want to decrease your gain, increase the level, decrease the chorus depth by 10% and increase the delay time by 100ms .. no problem all with the sweep of an exp pedal
multiple parameters can be assigned to a single footswitch which can be set to momentary or latching.
Almost all parameters and on/off state can be controlled by snapshots. Snapshots are like a traditional pedal loop controller but imagine you can also control the position of all the parameters as well as the amp parameters. If you have a variax you can also control the model type, tuning and route to different outputs etc
Its difficult to describe and you can do so much it's pretty open ended. But hope that gives you a flavour

Sporky

Plus worth mentioning that you can have three "normal" expression pedals, plus many, many more via MIDI.

professorben

Clarky said:

sweepy said:

I have both and so far the axe-fx is edging it tonally, it doesn't hurt to have both

I'd keep my Axe for studio work and UK gigs
for gigs overseas though, things are getting tough now that I have to flight case my guitars..
I used to take them in the cabin in gig bags.. so I only had a suitcase containing controllers, cables and a toothbrush, and my rack going in the hold..
now that the dickhead extremists are forcing airlines to tighten up on what's allowed in the cabin, I have my rack, suitcase and guitar flight case..
means the airlines want extra £££££ cos the extra items and the extra kg's
I need to find a way to strip it down..

another alternative is only to take one Axe-FX, no power conditioner and a smaller 4U rack..
cuts back on the weight a lot..
but a floor mount unit like the Helix means no rack, no floor control unit..
so my case would contain the Helix, power amp, some expression pedals and a toothbrush
which I'd imagine would all weigh less than 20kg

Is the toothbrush strictly necessary?

Sporky

Everyone knows tone is in the teeth.

Rocker

Sporky said:

Everyone knows tone is in the teeth.

Cavities give you a unique echo/reverb like sound, unique to you that is.

TimmyO

Clarky said:

John_A said:

As a lightweight alternative for someone who's used an Axe fx for as long as you have with great results I would have thought an AX-8 would have been the obvious choice.  Love my Helix, it sounds great and is a doddle to use ad has a few features like the scribble strips that the AX is missing, but other than that it's just a different flavour, not much it can or can't do when compared to the AX-8

as pointed out, the AX-8 only has 1 amp.. plus, it's missing a pile of control functionality that the Axe-FX has
the AX-8 it great if you want Fractal modelling, a ton of fx, but simple control functionality..

my needs are quite stringent and will ask quite a lot of any unit in the real-time control area..
in fact, I'd place my control needs over tone because most units can be made to sound pretty good these days..

@Clarky ; when I saw that the Helix can control multiple parameters going between any max/min values in any direction all at once it make me think of your old Digitech rig

Clarky

this is getting interesting..

Clarky

Sporky said:

Everyone knows tone is in the teeth.

this is truth..
have a wisdom..

Clarky

Cabicular said:

For pure control I'm not sure you can do better
almost any number of parameters can be controlled simultaneously by exp pedals
almost any parameter can be toggled between x and y states on a foot-switch
so want to decrease your gain, increase the level, decrease the chorus depth by 10% and increase the delay time by 100ms .. no problem all with the sweep of an exp pedal
multiple parameters can be assigned to a single footswitch which can be set to momentary or latching.
Almost all parameters and on/off state can be controlled by snapshots. Snapshots are like a traditional pedal loop controller but imagine you can also control the position of all the parameters as well as the amp parameters. If you have a variax you can also control the model type, tuning and route to different outputs etc
Its difficult to describe and you can do so much it's pretty open ended. But hope that gives you a flavour

is it just min/max? 
or is there also a mid value / can you make the sweep non-linear?

Cabicular

Clarky said:

Cabicular said:

For pure control I'm not sure you can do better
almost any number of parameters can be controlled simultaneously by exp pedals
almost any parameter can be toggled between x and y states on a foot-switch
so want to decrease your gain, increase the level, decrease the chorus depth by 10% and increase the delay time by 100ms .. no problem all with the sweep of an exp pedal
multiple parameters can be assigned to a single footswitch which can be set to momentary or latching.
Almost all parameters and on/off state can be controlled by snapshots. Snapshots are like a traditional pedal loop controller but imagine you can also control the position of all the parameters as well as the amp parameters. If you have a variax you can also control the model type, tuning and route to different outputs etc
Its difficult to describe and you can do so much it's pretty open ended. But hope that gives you a flavour

is it just min/max? 
or is there also a mid value / can you make the sweep non-linear?

Just a mid/max I'm afraid. 

Sporky

Though as you (if I remember correctly) use more than one expression pedal, have one (or more) be Source Audio Reflex(es) and you can set a non-linear sweep on that.

Vaiai

One of the King Crimson guys is using Helix now - I think Guitarist has a vid on it with him? I plugged in a 2nd Exp pedal the other night at rehearsal and it went from 0-100 at middle pos then as I went forward it went back down? Never had time to look at it properly

Clarky

Sporky said:

Though as you (if I remember correctly) use more than one expression pedal, have one (or more) be Source Audio Reflex(es) and you can set a non-linear sweep on that.

the reason for having control over either the mid point, or the curve itself, is that when using an XP to clean 2 different amp models, they generally do not clean up at the same rate
so… when running 2 riding amps, when you get the XP at the mid point of its throw, you'd want both amps to be roughly the same level and with roughly the same amount of gain..
In the Axe-II I shape each amp's gain control curve a little differently to achieve this..

Clarky

Vaiai said:

One of the King Crimson guys is using Helix now - I think Guitarist has a vid on it with him? I plugged in a 2nd Exp pedal the other night at rehearsal and it went from 0-100 at middle pos then as I went forward it went back down? Never had time to look at it properly

I reckon I need to download the manual and have a good read..

Drew_TNBD

I smell a studio day coming on

Give me a shout! I'll bring my Helix.